Food, Pork Consumption, and Identity in Ancient Israel

Pig frequency in archaeological assemblages is often considered a prime indicator in the search for the identity of ancient populations of the southern Levant in the Iron Age. This view is based on the biblical narrative as well as on past research that correlated evidence of pork avoidance with the emergence of early Israel. Recent research reassessing the available data challenged this notion and encouraged a renewed debate on the identification of ethnic identity using pig frequency. Here, the author focuses on the realities of pig avoidance and pork consumption in the southern Levant by going back to the basic data. She refutes the common perceptions relating pork consumption habits with various cultural groups, and demonstrates that it cannot serve as a cultural marker when attempting to classify the ethnic identity of a site’s population.